The previous Magic: The Gathering game was improved with the release of the 2012 successor, Duels of the Planeswalkers. The fundamental gameplay is unaltered from the original Magic: The Gathering model. The game continues until one of the players wins; at this point, the remaining players take turns playing cards from their decks, which consist of lands and spells. The lands produce mana, which can then be used to cast any of a large number of bits. There are five distinct colors of mana, and some spells may only be released with a particular shade.
The user interface has been overhauled, additional instructional assistance has been added, and there is now a demonstration that plays the first time you launch the game to make the game more approachable to people who have never played it before. There are now three campaigns available, the second of which pits the player against more powerful iterations of the adversaries they faced and conquered in the primary campaign. Archenemy’s new mode also pits three players (human or AI) against exceedingly formidable foes. The riddles have also been incorporated into the primary campaign, appearing as optional side missions that may be accessed once the player has proven himself victorious over the AI foes. In addition, one-off matches can be played in multiplayer mode, either against computer-controlled opponents or against other human players.
